


Stars Above and Grass Below

by firbolging



Series: You Talk a Good Game [2]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, Mutual Pining, unfulfilled pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:41:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28592676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firbolging/pseuds/firbolging
Summary: “It’s hard to see the stars in Nicodranas,” said Jester, more to herself than to Caleb. “That’s the thing about the Empire.”“Clear skies,” he agreed.
Relationships: Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast
Series: You Talk a Good Game [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2095134
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	Stars Above and Grass Below

The abandoned cottage they had holed up in had a surprisingly enormous garden. They must have grown things – the people who’d lived there. She hoped that they’d left freely, maybe to see another green corner of the continent.

Upon seeing the open but fenced off space, she had run barefoot from the backdoor, wet and overgrown grass tickling her shins.

“Jester!” she heard Caleb call.

Her run slowed to a skip as she turned to see him; a shadow of a man backlit by the kitchen, standing in the doorway.

“Caleb!” she replied, moving backwards.

“Be careful.”

“Come with me if you’re worried.”

It took him a moment to decide, before he was fumbling through the grass after her. She didn’t stop moving away from him, but she did slow a little, just to give him a chance. Whenever he got closer, she’d pick up the pace, until the cottage became a dollhouse in the distance.

Caleb grew clearer until he was just a leap and bound from her side. It was then that she grew bored of playing mouse and decided to fall prostrate before him, catching an eyeful of stars.

“Oh, wow,” she breathed.

This was the brightest and most detailed the sky had even appeared. No clouds or city lights obscured the stars. Just Caleb, standing over her with disappointed eyes.

“We don’t know what’s out here,” he said.

“Nothing’s out here, Caleb. Isn’t it beautiful?” Disappointment almost melted into a smile, and she knew she’d got him. “Come and lie with me.”

He sighed, long and weary, but he did not delay in obeying her, nor did he argue that they should return inside after a good five minutes of stargazing.

“It’s hard to see the stars in Nicodranas,” said Jester, more to herself than to Caleb. “That’s the thing about the Empire.”

“Clear skies,” he agreed.

She twitched her head to the side, just a little, testing out the reliability of her peripheral. A warmth spread from her smile to her chest.

“You’re not even looking up,” she teased. “You’re looking at me.”

He shrugged as much as he could, back flat and damp with dew. “I grew up in a small Empire village. I’ve seen enough of the stars.”

“You’ve seen me plenty too.”

She didn’t know exactly what she wanted him to say to that or if she wanted him to say anything at all. They were always talking and never acting. She wondered if he’d flinch if she linked her pinkie with his; clasped their palms together; rubbed her thumb over his bony knuckles. Maybe he wouldn’t flinch. Maybe he’d clench his teeth and go dead in the eyes, the way he did when he was looking through Frumpkin. Maybe he’d just suffer through the affection to keep her smiling. The thought of that wiped the smile clean off her face.

His brows knotted in concern. It was unbearable.

“You must miss it,” he said softly.

Jester twitched her head back so that she could only see sky before forcing a nonchalant reply of, “Miss what?”

“Nicodranas.”

“Oh,” she said, fumbling to reconfigure her mind. “I mean, it’s a super pretty city, but I never spent much time there. Like, out and about. It’s not like it’s… my home. It’s just where my home is.” She paused and closed her eyes, picturing the Nicodranas night, disfigured by lighthouses and street lamps. “Does that make any sense?”

“Of course.”

“Good.”

“You are, uh,” he broke off and she imagined a blush creeping from his neck to his cheeks, that open-mouthed half smile cutting through his words. “You are very skilled at expressing yourself.”

Jester’s eyes flew open as she rolled fully onto her side, taking in everything she had imagined to be true and joyfully concluding them to be fact.

“Caleb…” she sang, drawing out the vowels. She wondered if he thought he was safe to blush, forgetting her sharp eyes. “You’re still very mysterious.”

“Ja?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t try to be.”

“I don’t think that’s true. I think maybe you like to intrigue people.”

He snorted, “Ja, I don’t think that’s me.”

“Maybe not.”

“Definitely not.”

“But you intrigue us anyway.”

It would have been imperceptible had she not been so aware of their proximity before, but he shuffled just slightly away from her.

“We should get back,” he said.

“Why?”

“The others might be worried.”

“Nobody worries quite as much as you, Caleb.”

At that, he gave her a second-long smirk that quickly turned to something more painful. She wanted to kiss it away, to press her lips gently against his own, as though it were a bruised knee. There was no healing Caleb, though. Not really. Not the way that she healed wounds. If he kept trusting them, though, maybe then he’d wake up one day to find out that he’d healed himself.

His eyes on her nose, her eyes on his lips, she suddenly grasped just how much danger she was in.

With an exaggerated sigh, she sat up and said, “But, if you want to go back, then let’s go.”


End file.
